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Along with just plain loving Ottawa and the Senators, Chris Phillips had another reason for not wanting to be traded to a Stanley Cup contender.

He doesn’t hear the clock ticking.

“I think there’s still time for me to do that in my career,” the 32-year-old veteran defenceman said Monday, 10 minutes after signing a three-year, $9.25-million contact extension he agreed to at 9 p.m. Sunday night.

“I used the name Ray Bourque (Monday) morning in an interview ... he was in his 20th season, I think, when he made the move to go win the Cup.

“I don’t feel like this is my retirement deal. I think I’ve got lots of time to play, and hopefully do that here. Maybe my last year I’m here, I make that decision then. But I’m not at that point.

“And I’m excited about the future of this team. The way the young guys that have been playing right now, and just knowing the commitment that (owner) Eugene (Melnyk) and management has ... that when we do go in the other direction, we’ll be bringing in guys to make a difference, instead of letting guys go.”

Phillips said it didn’t bother him to take a $500,000 pay cut, nor that he probably left money on the table by not testing the free-agent market July 1.

“That wasn’t a large part of the decision-making process,” he said of the money. “It came to numbers we could agree on and I’m happy about that.

I’m not going to wonder, ‘What if?’ ”

Phillips is much respected in the Senators room, and he’ll be looked at to set an example for the youth on its way. He hopes his firm stance heading into these contract talks serve as a notice on what it means to be a Senator.

“I don’t know if I need to say anything. From them sitting back and seeing what’s happening, how much I want to be here and my commitment to the team, that they’ll take pride in the jersey that they wear here, and what it means to them.”

Statistically, Phillips has had a rough season. He no longer has the worst plus-minus in the league, but at minus-25, he’s near the bottom.

He also only has five points in 62 games, including his first goal of the season Saturday against the other Philly.

“I certainly didn’t think they were waiting for me to score a goal to get a contract out of it,” he joked. “I’m very excited that it was just hopefully the first of a few more. They always say the first is the hardest.”

“Selfishly, we wanted Chris back,” said Clouston. “He does a lot of good things. I know he has struggled this year, no one is going to deny that, but I think he’s still very valuable to this club.”

Phillips is encouraged by conversations with GM Bryan Murray, plus a glance around the room and what the organization has in the system.

“I know there’s a lot of hockey people out there really questioning my decision, when all they see is hockey. But it’s a lifestyle, it’s family, with the community, kids growing up in the community and involved in stuff,” he said. “But I don’t want to just lay it all on that, either.

“I love playing in Ottawa. We get treated unbelievable as hockey players, from the community, but from the team as well. And on the ice, I see things turning around.

“It was an unbelievable run when we went to the finals a few years ago, and there’s no other team I’d rather do that with, than these guys.”